


Finding a Future

by lasairfhiona



Series: Finding Love [5]
Category: CSI: Miami
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-26
Updated: 2010-11-26
Packaged: 2017-10-13 09:22:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/135705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/pseuds/lasairfhiona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Let's see. You. A beach. A house to work on together to make a home for us. What more could a girl want?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding a Future

Kerri woke and looked out the window to see the sky just starting to lighten and the stars disappear.  Not normally having a reason to stay in bed, she would have gotten up and gone paint or read until it was time to officially start her day.  But not this morning.  For the first time and too many years to count, she had a reason to linger in bed and he was currently lying on his stomach next to her.  Looking over at him, she lightly ran her down his exposed back stopping where the sheet rode low on his hips, covering the lower half of his body.  She could still feel the faint scars from the beatings he took as a child before he escaped his father's wrath. She remembered kissing and running her tongue along the then much fresher scars, showing him their presence didn't matter to her and didn't change how she felt about him. Only he mattered, then and now.  She remembered tending to the new bruises and marks incurred at the hands of his father the day they fought for the last time as Horatio tried to save his mother's life.

He rarely talked about the ghosts that haunted him but she knew they played themselves out in his dreams.  Back when he was on the street he would have nightmares for months after a tough case -- especially those involving children. Their talk of children and old ghosts must have woke the ghosts because he cried out in his sleep several times as he tossed and turned before she was able to quiet him. She was all too familiar with his night terrors; he'd had them on a regular basis when they were together the first time. She'd often wake to him crying out or fighting with the sheets reliving old battles undoubtedly lost.  She couldn't help but wonder if his nightmares were still a regular occurrence or if they had subsided with time and age only to resurface in times of stress.  Curling against his body, she let thoughts of last night tease her back to sleep.

The next time Kerri woke the sun was streaming through the window.  Rolling away from Horatio's warm body she looked at the alarm clock and gasped when she saw the hour.

Shaking Horatio's shoulder, she tried to wake him.

"Hmmm..." he grumbled, trying to burrow further into the bed and burying his head under the pillow trying to avoid the sunlight..

 She shook his shoulder again. "What time did you have to be at work?" she asked when he realized she wasn't going to stop and finally rolled over and looked at her.

"8:30," he told her, rolling over onto his back and pulling her down against him.

Pushing back she told him, "Well you better get a move on it's nearly 8:00."

"Damn..." Horatio exclaimed, quickly sitting up and rubbing his hands over his face.

"Do you still keep a change of clothes in your locker?" she asked remembering how after he made detective he would keep a spare set of clothes incase he got dirty on the job.

Kissing her, he smiled.  "I do.  I'll shower here and change at the lab."  Leaning over to kiss her one more time, he got up and padded across the room to the bathroom.

Kerri watched him go, admiring the view of his nude body as he walked away from her with his broad shoulders tapering down to his hips and his strong legs. She hadn't been able to admire his body when they had stripped off their clothing and walked hand in hand into the ocean for a late night swim after having made love on the beach. The years had put some extra weight on both of them but he still looked very good to her.  She contemplated joining him but if she did, Horatio would never make it to work on time.

Getting up, she donned her silk robes and padded across the room to the complimentary coffee pot just before she started a pot brewing, an attendant delivered the breakfast she forgot she ordered. Setting the small table next to the windows with the fruit, pastries and coffee she waited for Horatio.

Ten minutes later she watched Horatio come out of the bathroom.  There was just something about seeing him with the top button of his jeans undone and his shirt hanging open that made her want to unbutton those jeans and have her wicked way with him.  With her robe wrapped around her, she met him half way and wrapped her arms around his waist under his shirt..  "I could start every day like this," she said as she kissed his chest and resisted the temptation she was presented with.

"So could I," he agreed, kissing her gently.  "We should check you out of the hotel."

"I'm not moving into that condo you call home," she told him adamantly.

He smiled.  She'd made her opinion of the condo apparent last night. "Could you tolerate living there short term?  I have a beach house,. But it's been closed up for a long time and probably needs some work."

"I supposed I could if absolutely necessary but why don't we redo it together?"  she asked him making all kinds of assumptions about their future as she buttoned his shirt. "Let's see. You. A beach. A house to work on together to make a home for us. What more could a girl want?"

Pulling her tight against him, he asked, "You tell me?"

"Seven days a week instead of four but I plan on remedying that as soon as I can get the new manager up to speed and the gallery turned over to her," she told him as she pulled back and headed to the table she'd set to at leave give him a cup of coffee before he left.

"What about your daughter?" Horatio asked taking the coffee and grabbing a piece of melon with his fingers and feeding it to Kerri.

Taking the offered fruit she made a big deal of licking the juices off his fingers, before answering, "Amy graduates in June and already has a job lined up.  She'll be glad for us.  Especially since we just had a conversation about missed opportunities and how not to give up just because the going gets hard. Knowing her she'd pack my bag and put me on a plane, especially when she finds out it's you."

"She knows about me?" he asked as he buttoned up his shirt. Horatio was surprised she told her daughter about their relationship so long ago.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "You were part of my example about not giving up. She encouraged me to find you after our conversation."

"Sounds like I have an ally in Amy," he observed as he retrieved his weapon and shield and clipped both to his belt.

"You have no idea.  She's a romantic and the idea of us reuniting would have her working overtime," Kerri laughed.

Horatio just shook his head at the news her daughter not only knew about him but would advocate them getting together.  "I'll look forward to the day we can be together full time, but I'm not complaining I only get you four days for right now because it's better than none.  On that note," he paused looking at his watch, "I need to leave, I'm already late."

"Dinner?"

"Lunch.  But I'll call you in case I get busy." He kissed her and walked out the door leaving them both to start their day. 


End file.
